Warring Interlude
by Raeorein
Summary: Seven friends are stuck in Tortall and Scanra, and the realms' most reknowned knights are going missing. Do their mysterious disappearances have anything to do with the intensity of a unknown mage's powers or Maggur's sudden rise to power? Based on PotS
1. Prologue

**Please read my second chapter after this one even though this one hasn't exactly gotten to the main plot. The second chapter may change your mind.**

**Thank you for listening to my rants and descriptions, now on with the story!**

**All the characters in the first chapter are my friends. Regardless,**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of Tamora Pierce's characters.

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"Come on Andrew, I know you can do so much better than that! Ha!" exclaimed a girl, about five foot nine.

Andrew growled under his breath, "Show off!"

"I heard that! I'll give you a show off." She immediately somersaulted over Andrew's head and prodded him in the back with her plastic imitation sword.

Andrew dropped his sword turn around and say, "Great! Now I can add being beaten at fencing by a girl to my list of things never to tell anyone. Good job Christina." He extended his hand. Christina shook it.

"Thanks, you've practiced." People who had gathered during the spar and were now all clapping.

"C'mon Daniel, it wasn't that bad." Andrew said while walking over to two boys, one of which was banging his head against a wall.

Daniel spoke in a tone of mock insanity, "Yes it was! She beats us at everything, Fencing, Soccer, Basketball..."

Andrew interrupted, "Hey, that was you."

"Sure it was."

"Honestly!"

"Okaayyy.."

Christina walked over to her other three friends on the opposite side of the gym. "Hey guys."

"Hey. Good show, here's your tip." The short brown-haired girl said while flipping a coin into Christina's hand.

"Do you want to play a quick game of one-on-one soccer before we leave?"

"Sure." The four of the left the gym, making their way to their destination outside.

"You know you all didn't have to stay for that." Christina stated.

The brown-haired girl started to laugh. When she stopped, she said, "We just wanted to see Andrew get his tail whooped by a girl, oh, and you're our free ticket home."

"I can't forget that. Oh no, not that." Christina spouted sarcastically, "Thanks for the reassurance Amy."

"You're welcome." Before they left the building for good, she made sure to put her sword in the gym teacher's office. As they started to walk to the locker room when suddenly there was a tremor, and Amy started to scream.

"Will you shut up Amy? Please! It makes you look like a sissy. You don't see Trisha and Veronica screaming do you? Don't you remember when this happened in middle school?" yelled Christina, trying to make Amy listen over her own screaming, who stopped abruptly.

Trisha spoke up. "When it happened then, it wasn't this intense. Or for that matter, this long." (The tremor was still going on)

She stopped talking as she saw Norman, Daniel, and Andrew running up to them.

"Are you guys okay?" Daniel asked.

Norman started to say something when his words were lost because of a new tremor, an earthquake even, more intense than the last. Before they knew it, every person had been knocked to the ground.

"We need to go! Quick!" Someone said, the voice was unrecognizable through all of the noise.

Before they could leave, there was a blast of blinding light, followed by total darkness.

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A/N: Please review. Please! I even welcome criticism, constructive or not.


	2. Capture, fall, and find

DISCLAIMER: unless something has changed, Tamora Pierce still owns Tortalland all of its people.

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Veronica's view

When I opened my eyes, the place looked unfamiliar to me. Behind me was a forest. I looked around and saw everybody, then it hit me, weren't Daniel, Andrew, and Norman there too when IT happened? So would they have been brought here too? I walked over to where Christina was, at the foot of a hill. Because there was a hill was there, I expected a valley to be beyond it. Needless to say, I almost walked off of a cliff! There was a river down below. In the middle of the river was a rock, and on the rock was where Norman lay unconscious. Something started to rustle behind me, so I turned around and then looked down. Good, Christina is awake.

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Christina's view

As I sat up, something caught my attention. There was a TIDAL WAVE coming right down the river. 'It will sweep us all into the river, then we're doomed for sure. It was funny in the movies because it was fake and it wouldn't matter if they died, this is real life, it actually matters here,' I thought in a partially scared voice. 'I wonder where the boys are at.' At this time, Trisha and Amy were still unconscious, and Veronica was sitting beside me. "Did they did they get brought here too?" I asked in reference to the boys.

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Regular View

Someone in the forest snickered. "Whoever you are, show yourself!" Christina yelled.

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Veronica's View

I stood and looked around, because for the most part I understood why Christina had yelled. 'I heard the laugh, but why bother. It's nothing to worry about, is it?'

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Regular View

Almost immediately, as if in answer to Veronica's thought, she and Christina were grabbed from behind. Christina's captor quickly knocked her out with a shield to the head. Veronica was lashing out in all directions, not bothering to be polite about where she kicked. After about another minute of struggles, Veronica was finally subdued.

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Norman's view

I was flowing through the vicious rapids when I awoke. I screamed, because all the pain I had previously received (from the tidal wave and landing on the rock), I felt all at once. 'It's as if it waited for me to wake.'

About five minutes later the current started to get faster and rougher. About 20 feet in front of me I saw the river end, no turns, it just ended. When I got to the edge, I realized it was a waterfall. 'Too late.' I thought. As I hit the surface of the lake, everything went dark.

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Daniel's View

As I opened my eyes, I saw someone standing beside me, looking down at me. All I seemed to see were these strange blue eyes looking at me, but why?

It finally hit me; I'm alive! 'I'm not dead, that is so amazing.' I thought as I sat up.

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Regular View

"Raoul," called Dom. "I found another boy, he seems to be okay from the look of things, and there's one out in the lake. Wolset!"

The man named Wolset stepped up, "Yes sir."

"Bring the boy that's out in the lake back to shore."

"Right away."

Dom started to talk to Raoul, "They all seem fine, but where are they from?"

Daniel approached Dom to ask, "Where are they, you know, the others?"

"What others?"

"The girls, the others." Daniel said starting to get slightly frustrated.

"I'm sorry," Dom was confused. "but we only found two others, two boys."

Daniel just walked away through all the soldiers. 'I can't lose them, not now.' He thought.

"Hey you," Dom yelled after him. "We have to take you to the palace."

Daniel started to walk back, "Who are you?"

"I am Domitan of Masbolle, Sergeant in the King's Own. That person over there is Sir Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak, Commander of the Third Company of the King's Own."

"I'm Daniel, and the two other boys you found were Andrew and Norman."

"We need to get going." Dom stated while mounting his horse.

Andrew said to Daniel through the side of his mouth, "This is a waste of time, we need to find the girls."

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Amy's View

'Man, I have a horrible headache. I need some advil.' When I reached for my pack, I noticed that my hands and feet were bound. I also noticed that I was tied to a pole, as was Trisha. "What happened?" I asked Trisha.

She was about to answer when the guard suddenly yelled, "Shut the hell up you two, I don't want any crap on my watch."

I noticed their guard didn't dress like the others. "Are you even from the same country as the rest of the people here?" I said.

Then he roared, "I SAID NO TALKING!"

I started to say, "You don't dress like them, but you certainly have their acc..." But my words were cut off because the guard was in front of me with a knife to my throat. Through clenched teeth he said, "No talking or I will slit your throat right now."

Trisha was scared by the sight of the knife, "P-ple-please d-d-do-don't do any-any-anything to her ple-please."

'Man, she must have a death wish.' I thought.

"Whhh-ere a-ar-are our-our ot-other f-f-friends?"

He started to laugh, "They are with the captain. He has a few, questions for them." He walked back to his post.

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--------Captain's Tent--------

Christina's View

'The Captain is talking in Scanran, I'm almost sure of it.' I thought as I struggled with my bonds. Veronica was unsurely looking around until the captain started speaking to us.

"What did you say, I didn't understand." Veronica said.

The captain just shook his head and started walking forward.

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--------Corus, the palace--------

The king was in his study, he had been there for days trying to figure something out, but he hadn't succeeded yet. There was a knock on the door.

"Come in." He droned.

A servant came in. "Your Majesty, Sir Raoul says he has news of grave importance."

"Tell him to come in." Jon answered.

"You're pretty morbid looking," Raoul said as he walked in. "It's dreary as hell in here, why don't you come outside. You look like you need some sun. Then we can talk."

"I can't, I'm working on something."

"Well set it aside," Raoul stated in a no-nonsense tone. "and I won't take no for an answer."

"Just hold on for a few minutes then." Jon said as he got up and walked to his bedroom.

About ten minutes later, they were outside by the lake (not the lake where the boys were found).

"So," Jon started casually. "What is the news that is of such grave importance?"

"Well," muttered Raoul as if unsure of how to present the predicament. "On our way back to Corus, we stopped to set up camp by a lake. When we stopped, we found three boys. They weren't dressed normally; It's as if they weren't even from Tortall. Then one of them started asking if we found 'the others'. I have no idea what he meant. If there are more of them wandering around, Mithros only knows where they could be by now."

"What if the Scanrans found them? I can only imagine what Maggur will do with them." Jon thought out loud, unsure about exactly what this meant. It was as if he was afraid of the answer that might come...

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--------Scanran Camp; Captain's Tent--------

The Captain of the Scranran warriors sauntered over to where Veronica was tied up. "My, what a beauty we have here." He let his hand glide down her body, touching every curve.

In her stead, Christina screamed, "Get off of her you bastard!"

He seemed quite taken aback, "Maybe you will be more exciting then her." Immediately he turned around, stepping over to Christina. He put his arm around her, pulling himself close to her until their bodies were against each other.

"What the hell do you think you are doing!" she shouted incredulously. "Get your hands off of me you stupid son of a bitch."

The Captain put a silencing charm on Christina and Veronica. "I can't have your words distracting me now can I?" He told her in a low voice, almost in a purr. Just as he was leaning closer, a guard came in. They started speaking in Scanran, the Captain looked displeased.

Dismissing the guard, he turned around and said, "Well, it looks like we'll have to finish this some other time. Our Lord wants us in Hamrkeng. We will be leaving immediately."

'The sooner the better.' Christina thought.

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A/N:

_**Nothing else worked: thank you for your review, I am thinking about rewriting the first chapter so things will be clearer and a lot less mary-sueish. But it will have to wait for a couple of days. Thanks for pointing those things out. I wasn't born with the gift of being observant. And I will put more people in the otherwise deserted school. Just in case you didn't read my bio again (I don't know why you would) but I updated it and it said that everyone is sixteen except for veronica who is 18. everyone else is just too lazy to drive themselves. **_

_**Enchanted night 84: thanks for your suggestions, and I am certainly welcoming criticism. I wasn't really paying attention to the grammatical errors. I will update the prologue soon, probably after I post the first chapter. I actually like the criticism, my teachers never were that straight forward. Thank you. I actually wrote this chapter when I wrote the last.**_

_**Lioness Fury: yes it is another one of those dropped into tortall stories, but all the ones I have read would never in a million years end up like this one, honestly. You will see what I mean probably in the next chapter, and others too. This is going in a totally different direction than the other stories. **_

Thanks to all the others who reviewed.

I don't know when, but I will let you know when we unhook the computer, because after that I will not be able to update for week or two. But when I get back I promise I will post a **few**more chapters. I know what's going to happen for at least 10 more chapters, I just have to write it out. I am trying to make it as non-marysueish as possible, but it proves to be a challenge since I already wrote the chapter. The next chapter won't be another mary sue, I'll make sure this time. The only reason Christina is the only one that knows anything about tortall is because she is the only one out of the seven that has actually read all the books. Please excuse this chapter because I am bad at writing in views.

Thanks for reading it. This chapter was a whole lot longer than the first. Please review, I want to know what you think of what has happened so far. I will not be updating until the 11. When I do update, I will post at least 5 or so chapters to make up for the time.


	3. The meetings

**Warring Interlude: Chapter 2 (actually 3)**

ShadowPirate: Thank you so much for your review! I felt so lonely...I fell kinda stupid saying it, but I am in the highest level English class at my school(middle school sucks like that). I Infact have a great...well, I wouldn't know yet. Just, well, Thanks. By the way, are you going to write another story soon?

The last time I updated was probably August 25, or something like that. Anyways, we were going to move, so consequently all the computers got unhooked. That is why it took so freaking long to update, otherthan that writer's block, on to the story.

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DISCLAIMER: Tamora Pierce owns every single piece of it, not me, her.

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-(slightly before Raoul talks to Jon)-

"Well," Raoul muttered, "this is my room. I would like it if you stayed in here until I get back. Oh, and I would also advise you not to touch anything because, well, it might have a spell on it. That's about all."

And with that, Raoul walked out of the room closing the door behind him.

When they were sure that Raoul was gone, Daniel and Andrew started looking around.

This particular room was very orderly. There were a few chairs in a horseshoe around the fireplace. There was an Oriental (who knows what they call it there, Yamani maybe?) rug in the middle of the room. There was a desk nestled in the far right corner of the room in front of a window that was ajar.

"Man," Andrew said looking slightly amazed, "even my room isn't this clean."

Daniel was halfway through another doorway when he turned around and motioned Andrew to follow. "Come on Andrew, this room is packed. It's got swords and everything in here."

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-Infirmary-

As Norman woke up, a fresh wave of pain washed over him. The last thing he remembered was going over the edge of the waterfall, but how long ago had that been? He tried to sit up, but his arms didn't seem to want to obey him.

A guy who looked to be in his late 40's or 50's walked over to his bed. "I wouldn't try that for a while," the guy exclaimed, "you're still too weak. You need time to recover. By the way, I'm Duke Baird of Queenscove."

Norman, yet again, tried to sit up. But his futile attempts were pointless, he was just too weak.

Baird started to say, "I really must insist that you don't try that, it will hur..."

Just as he was about to finish his statement a boy who looked to be about 12 burst into the infirmary. Breathless, he stated, "The king...wants... to see... you. He says... I am...to... stay here...until... you get... back."

"Apparently it is an emergency or you wouldn't have ran all the way here Neal, it just isn't you. Where is he?" asked Baird.

Neal stammered (still breathless), "In his office, Sir Raoul is there too."

"At east you learned manners one time or another, among other things." Baird thought aloud as he left the infirmary.

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-----Hamrkeng, Scanra, the warlord's throne room (or whatever you wish to call it)-----

"Our Lord will see you now." The guard officially stated.

As the double doors opened Amy gasped, Trisha shrugged, Veronica started to look around (for an escape route I would imagine), and Christina said in sarcastic amazement, "I don't believe this shit. First, guys wearing fur like they're from the Ice Age or something capture us. And if that isn't enough, we're taken to some dump that's trying to pass for a throne room. This is just too much." She started laughing.

"Shut that girl up." Proclaimed a deep booming voice coming from the back of the room.

Instantaneously, one of the guards drove their fist into Christina's gut. She dropped to the dusty tile floor clutching her stomach and trying to regain her breath.

"What was that for?" Trisha yelled while trying to escape from her captor's clutch.

"Bring them here." Said the same voice as before, it seemed to be coming from a man that sat in a bejeweled throne high on the red-carpeted dais.

"Where'd you steal that from?"Amy sneered. (She is referring to the throne.)

Ignoring the comment, they hastily jerked the girls across the immense room to the foot of the stairs leading to the dais.

"Where are you from? You are more rude, insolent, and different than anyone of this land." The man inquired with an eager tone in his voice. "Are you from Tortall? Galla? Tyra? Tusaine? Where?"

Angrily, Christina replied, "What is it to you? We're not of this world, so were aren't a threat to you."

"Honestly," he stated, "When will you learn to keep your little mouth shut?"

With that, the guard restraining her shoved her to the ground and placed a foot on her back to keep her down.

"You will learn to obey your lord, Maggur." The guard exclaimed matter-of-factly.

Veronica replied, "We are ruled by no king or lord, or anyone for that matter."

Maggur stood up, and yelled while walking down the steps, "Everyone is ruled by someone and you are now ruled by me!" He walked over to Christina, "Get up!"

He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her to her feet. "You're the one I want. You give hope to your friends, they wouldn't know each other if it wasn't for you. They might even be enemies." After he concluded, a yellowish glow was traveling through his hand and into Christina. None of the girls had the sight, so none of them knew what was happening.

When he was done, he let her fall to the floor, "Take them to the dungeons for the time being, maybe they'll learn some manners. Wait one more second." He walked to each of the girls and put a medallion of some sorts around their necks. "Just to ensure that you don't try to disobey me, ever."

With that, the girls were hauled out of the room.

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A/N: Thanks for reading. One day, I might even make up a better ending to this chapter, but not now. Please review I need to know what you think. I will update as soon as I get a couple of reviews. Bye.


	4. Bad News

**Chapter 3: Bad News**

The part with Maggur at the end is kind of off topic a little, but then again I made it up at school about a month ago. I didn't have the heart to take it out of the story because I though it was really funny. I have no clue where the names came from either. I am writing jenny out and putting in Amy instead. Hope you enjoy the chapter.

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DISCLAIMER: last time I checked, tortall and all of it's inhabitants belonged to Tamora Pierce

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-----1 month later-----

"What's the news Raoul?" muttered King John as if tired of the same ritual.

Quickly Raoul stated, "Nothing is wrong as of this moment. The Scanrans haven't actually attacked anybody for the past month; their silence is starting to get a little eerie."

As soon as he finished, Dom rushed through the door and up to him. Dom was whispering something in Raoul's ear, he looked very displeased.

"I'm sorry sir," said Dom addressing the King. "I had important news for Sir Raoul to hear."

As soon as Dom left, Raoul started talking, "Jon, there actually is something to report. At first I didn't want to bother you with it, but now it's gotten worse so I have no choice. All around Tortall, various knights and squads have gone missing. I sent someone out to try and find them, but they disappeared too."

The crystal cup Jon had in his hand felt to the ground and shattered, "When was the first disappearance?"

"Almost two weeks ago. There have been five additional squads reported missing since the initial disappearance." Raoul stated.

Jon had a pained expression on his face, "Send your squad out to a lightly wooded area. They will camp there for the night, but you have to make sure you have someone whose alert and awake watching from a nearby tree or bush. If something does happen, then they should wait until the enemy is gone then return immediately to Corus and inform me."

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"Raoul, are we almost there?" Dom inquired trying to fight off the freezing cold. (It's around in December there.)

"This spot's just as good as any," ordered Raoul. "Unload your horses and set up camp."

About three hours later-

'I'm starting to think Jon is just crazy,' Raoul thought carelessly. 'We've been out here for hours and those…'

He was cut off by a yell from one of his men.

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-----Corus, Palace, Grand Hall-----

"Alanna," Jon whispered. "have you heard any news of Raoul?"

Alanna just turned and looked at him, "Nobody's heard anything of them since they left."

"That's what I was worried about." Jon muttered under his breath.

Fog started to rise from the floor. It wasn't visibly clear where it was coming from.

Numair walked up to Alanna and Jon, "Do you know who is conjuring the fog? Because this wasn't part of the plans."

Everyone was still, they were just watching the fog creep up from the floor. There was silent panic all around the room. Alanna was actually filled with anticipation, 'I don't care who is doing it, I wish something would just happen soon.'

All you could see through the fog was blurry shapes, but they were not those of the partygoers.

Once the fog cleared, some of the ladies in the room screamed.

"Jon," whispered Alanna. "Right behind you."

As Jon was turning around, he was restrained (I know he is strong, but I just decided to be mean). A voice said in his ear, "Don't you dare move, because I can kill you right now. Then I'll leave as quick as I came, and all my soldiers with me. Look all around you, it would be quite a disgrace now wouldn't it?"

'That's strange,' Jon thought. 'That voice sounds like a girl. Not that is isn't possible, but still, it makes no sense.' "Who are you." He asked aloud.

"That is to remain a mystery. But first, a little gift from Maggur. You could say it's his Midwinter gift to Corus." The voice stated.

Almost immediately after the strangers had disappeared back into the fog, humungous plants started growing on every surface in sight.

"Numair," Jon asked. "What is this?"

Numair actually looked kind of depressed, "I don't know; I guess we will have to find out. But they do seem slightly familiar."

Alanna suddenly butted in, "I hope they're not familiar from somewhere good, because look at what their doing."

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-----Hamrkeng-----

"Good Job. That was excellent work you four. Too bad nobody knows the spell to get rid of them except for me. What are your names again?" Maggur questioned.

"Trisha."

"I don't like that name, I shall now call you Jaylie."

"I don't like your name either." Trisha mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing important." She said slightly louder than necessary.

"Leave my presenceJaylie and attend to the prisoners."

"Fine."

"I don't like your attitude, you need to shape up."

In a flash of light, Trisha was on the floor trying to regain her breath.

Maggur just looked to the rest of the girls, "Now, what about you?"

"Amy."

"You are now Kairen." Maggur ordered.

"I'm Veronica, but honestly, we've been forced to do your bidding for a year, I think you should know our names by now."

"And you?" Maggur said simply ignoring the comment Veronica just made.

"Christina."

Maggur almost gagged, "WHAT?"

"I said my name is Christina, and if you have such a problem with it you really should have said something earlier."

"The problem is my daughters. At first I thought it was just a coincidence that you looked exactly like her, but now the same name. Something just isn't right."

"I still don't see the problem, what is so bad about your daughters?" Christina retorted with a grim expression on her face.

"They fight for Tortall, they are trying to dethrone me (Damn he's so arrogant, he doesn't even have a throne to get dethroned from.), and their names are Christina and Raeorein. They are a disgrace to my clan."

"Not really, you probably gave them a reason." Christina said. 'Just like you are giving me reasons to do the same if I ever get the chance like them.'

Maggur then, a little impatiently, said, "I want you all out of here, Christina stay."

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This was as good a place as any to stop the chapter because it basically sums up a few things. Please, PLEASE Review! For my last chapter I only got one review, I need more reviews, because if you don't, I will think my story sucks too much for words. No I am not the Raeorein i refer to in my story...it was just an interestin name... 


	5. On the Trail

**Chapter Four: On the Trail**

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Tortall or any of its people. I own the plot, and a few (about 9) of the characters.

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I know I changed two of the characters, but it did nothing to effect my plot or change anything in the story. That's just in case some people got confused from the change who've read the previous chapters.

Read and review………PLEASE! I need to know what you think. This was supposed to be longer, but it's been a while since I updated so I decided to stop where I was and post it so y'all wouldn't think I had forgotten. I hope you enjoy!

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"Alanna, have you been able to locate Raoul, or anyone else from his company?" The King inquired from his seat by the roaring fire.

"No, but we found their camp, it hasn't been touched for at least three days. Almost half the horses are still there, but they're quite frightened. Daine is talking to them right now to see if they saw anything important that can lead us to the culprits, but there's nothing promising yet. This is just so confusing! Of anyone that's missing, the horses are the only things that we've found. Why did the people just now decide to leave a trail? It's almost as if they want us to follow them, like they're leading us into a trap." Alanna looked unsure of herself as she finished.

"Don't let anyone know," Jon stated. "If anyone asks you will simply say that Raoul and the 3rd company of the Own went on a scouting mission. I want you and your soldiers to follow their trail, if you find anything important you must send a report _immediately! _I know it's midwinter, but this is far more important. Remember, don't tell anyone because we can't risk starting a war with Scanra unprepared."

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(A week after the fifth midwinter ball)

"Follow me." Maggur ordered.

Christina looked as calm as ever, "Why should I?"

"Because I said so."

"That still doesn't mean I have to do it, because like I said, I am ruled by no one and answer to no overlord. That's the most important thing you should know about me by now, it's not a surprise you don't even know that."

"You WILL answer to me, but that's beside the point."

"Really? Because it doesn't seem that way, I think you're still mad because I will never recognize you as my lord. Just an over-confidant, self-absorbed asshole, that's exactly what you are."

"I JUST SAID IT WASN'T, now follow me."

"You're a lousy liar, you know it deep down inside you that you will never be able to conquer us. You're just mad because there is finally someone that isn't intimidated by your size and that can tell you what you really are to your face."

"If you won't come of your own free will, then I will have to use force. GUARDS!"

Instantaneously five guards entered the room.

"Great, just what I need." Christina muttered under her breath sarcastically.

Then with utter finality, Maggur said, "Seize her and follow me."

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(Three days after the end of Midwinter (five days after the fifth Midwinter ball))

"We're approaching the Vassa River, it's about 1000 feet away." A scout reported as he galloped up on his gelding.

"Good." Alanna exclaimed to no one in particular. "Because everyday we take to get there, it's one day off of the lives of our knights. Not to mention another day for Maggur."

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(A week (still) after the fifth midwinter ball)

When Maggur suddenly ceased walking, they were in front of a huge pair of double doors. As they entered the room, Christina took note of her surroundings. There was a long table in the center of the room with ten chairs around it, all but two occupied.

As soon as Maggur was seated, he started talking, "What progress have you made Blayce?"

"I have an idea, but it isn't fully developed yet."

"It better be by the eve of the third council from now."

Tedious conversations and reports such as this carried on for almost two hours. After everyone had left and the people of the castle had retired to their rooms for the night, Maggur made his way down to the dungeon.

When he made his way down 'The Steps of No Return' (As named by the soldiers and guards), he immediately spotted Jaylie. "Go and retrieve Kairen and Veronica. I expect you back in five minutes. If you are even one second late there will be severe consequences."

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w00t! Finally. As I said at the beginning of the chapter, this chapter was going to be longer, but I decided to go ahead and post this much since it's been so long. I hope you liked it. Please review. I loved the end! Such a good cliffhanger……what do you think he wants? Hahaha you'll have to wait for a chapter or two to find out………. Hope you like the next two chapters, they're sure to be full of action….. see ya……. 


	6. The Fight Begins

**Chapter 5: The Fight Begins**

Disclaimer: I do not own any of TP's characters or Tortall

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They had been riding hard (very hard) for the past two days, only occasionally stopping for rest. The farther into Scanra they got the less scared they were of enemy attacks, but fear of getting impaled by the Lioness only grew stronger.

The company was finally nearing Hamrkeng when Alanna stopped. "Rest here for now, because when we get into the city one little mistake will cost us out lives. We will move out at sundown."

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"You are dismissed." Maggur announced to the occupants of the room.

Christina got up and started to walk out of the room, when Maggur's magic blocked the door.

"I expect to see you in the Entrance Hall when I come after the evening meal. I would be on time if I were you, you've been pushing your luck lately."

On her way down to the mess, Christina went by her chambers to retrieve her keys and sword. She had a bad feeling about tonight. And if this was the same as all of her other bad feelings, then she better be ready.

* * *

Alanna got up and walked away from the fire, it seemed what they needed wouldn't be too much out of the way after all. "Fulcrim's unit, come with me. We will be freeing those in the dungeons of the capital. William's unit, pack up camp, move into the woods, and wait for our return. Healers be ready, I don't think our knights would have gone without a fight."

As Alanna and Fulcrim's unit crept through the seemingly deserted city, they were on constant alert. None of the townspeople were about, because Maggur had squads patrolling the streets.

Alanna and the soldiers had to be careful and not run into any guards.

The going was slow, but they soon arrived on the castle grounds. They left their horses in an abandoned stable, along with two guards to keep watch. All of them changed into the uniform of the palace servants. (I have no clue where they happened to get them…….) Soon after the soldiers had scouted around, they reported that the way was clear, if they were supposed to go in the front doors.

Alanna sighed in frustration, " I guess we'll just have to go in the front. It's almost midnight, so there shouldn't be too many guards about the palace. Let's go."

Regardless of the shortage of palace guards, the unit still kept to the shadows. Even dressed as they were, their number was still conspicuous.

As Fulcrim opened the door hesitantly, everyone's heart began to race. It wasn't everyday that your life hung in the balance just because of a wooden door. As soon as Alanna crossed the threshold, everyone heard a clank of metal on stone.

* * *

She had been in the Entrance Hall for at least three hours waiting for Maggur, and he still hadn't come. Christina hadn't even eaten dinner so she could be on time. (She did go to the mess she just didn't eat.) "Where the hell is Maggur anyways? Dinner ended a long time ago. I wonder what's he's doing that is so much more important." While Christina was whispering to herself, she hadn't noticed the door at the front of the hall opening. But the second she saw the Lioness she bolted, not even noticing that she dropped the dagger she held in her hand.

* * *

Alanna ran up the stairs to where the dagger lay. She picked it up to examine it, when a sight clouded her vision.

_Fog was creeping up from the floor._

Numair walked up to her and Jon, "Do you know who's conjuring the fog? Because it wasn't part of the plans."

'But this was at the ball. It's the past, how can I be seeing it again?' Alanna questioned herself.

She could see the same blurry shapes in the fog. But now she knew they weren't those of the partygoers

_The ladies in the room screamed when they saw who was in the fog._

_Alanna started to whisper, "Jon, right behind you."_

_Jon tried to turn around, but he was restrained. Then there it was at his throat, the dagger._

The vision immediately ceased. The dagger she picked up, the one she held in her hand right now, was the dagger of the assassin who threatened her king at the ball.

'Once I find them,' Alanna thought. 'I **will** kill them, even if I die in the attempt.'

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Oooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh………………. Did you like it? Hhmmmmmmmm? I already had this chapter written for a couple of days, I just haven't had the time to type it. Please review.

**Kirjava Deamon: I had not earthly clue that my story was so …….grammatically incorrect. I tried to fix everything I found, so if you see anything please tell. I hope you liked this chapter.**


	7. The Assassin's Betrayal

**Chapter 6: The Assassin's Betrayal

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**Angelhaven44: Alanna was all dramatic about it because of how close she is to Jonathan (from Song of the Lioness), I just wanted to at least make her a little overdramatic. Christina bolted because she knew exactly what Alanna was going to do if she recognized her. It was also just to get Alanna follow her to the dungeon.

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**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Tortall or Scanra, they are Tamora Pierce's

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Christina heard them chasing after her. She didn't look back to see because that would slow her down. She had to get to the dungeons before she stopped, they might not try to kill her if they saw for themselves that the knights were alive and well. Christina chanced a quick glance back, the Lioness was two arm-lengths behind her and gaining speed. 'There's only three more halls left,' Christina thought. 'Two……..One………the stairs!'

As she vaulted down the stairs, Alanna was still in hot pursuit.

"Where in the hell is she leading me? Down to the….no." Alanna thought aloud. "Could he be…….NO! Could this possibly be……it doesn't matter anymore."

The dungeons were pitch-black with no sound except mice and the dripping water, regardless, Alanna still ran until she collided with a solid figure.

"Wait." It said. "Use your gift to look around."

Pretending not to hear, Alanna slowly and menacingly said, "Who are you?"

"I am The Keeper…….It's too noticeable if you light a torch, use you gift to see." The Keeper announced in a deep foreboding voice.

"How do I know if this isn't a trap or not?"

"If you were sure you wouldn't be talking right now."

"Are you that boy that was in the Entrance Ha…."

Footfalls sounded in the distance, or somewhere, for you can't be sure of anything in true darkness.

"Quick!" The Keeper hissed. There was a jingle of keys and the creak of an opening door. 'He' handed the keys to Alanna. "The old-fashioned one unlocks all the ones on this hallway. Each big key unlocks a corridor of cells. Hide in this cell until you hear nothing from the distance."

With that he left and the cell door swung shut.

"That was weird." Alanna whispered to herself. "But I guess it's my only choice since I'm so deep in the enemy's territory now."

"A..A..Alanna?" Croaked a voice from the cot in the cell. "Is that you?" The voice sounded amazed that such a thing could be true.

"Raoul! What happened?" she said as she walked over to him. "You've been missing for almost two weeks!"

"Really?" he replied while making an effort to sit up on the cot. "Can't tell a damn thing in this hell hole."

After a moment to take in the sight of her missing comrade, Alanna said, "Tell me everything."

"It started just about three or four hours before the second Midwinter Ball. We had camp set up and were just waiting. Our sentry spotted approaching Scanran Raiders and yelled, after that it was chaos. One by one they captured our men, no mercy. They wanted us all alive, they said no funeral pyres could be spared for the enemy. The whatever they were calling him, seemed kind of far away. He didn't look as if he enjoyed it nearly as much as his soldiers."

"No one in their right mind would." Alanna said in a curious tone.

"Actually," Raoul said, "he reminded me of you when you were a page. He seems kind of young, younger than all of his soldiers. But whenever anyone of them questioned him or his authority, they got a mouthful. If I weren't gagged I would've burst out laughing. He had that air about him, the one that makes you wonder what he's hiding. If my sources are correct, then I assume that keeper and the person you were chasing are my commander. The guards were gossiping the other day about how the Commander doesn't trust them. I would go into detail, but I assume it isn't necessary."

"Raoul, how in the hell do you have sources? You've been in this cell for two weeks!" Alanna silently, "Tha…."

Just then a scream, then a clang of metal on stone, rang through the air.

* * *

She had finally reached the steps, but the sight that greeted her wasn't at all welcoming. There was blood all over the walls, and there was three bodies strewn across the floor. Christina instantly recognized them. She walked slowly to the first body and knelt down. Trisha……… her throat was cut. She had minor cuts and scrapes elsewhere. Christina got up, walked over to, and also knelt down by the next body. Veronica, there was a huge gash across her chest and down her back, presumably from fighting. Veronica's sword lay beside her, spotless. Last was Amy, it was as if someone had dragged a knife from her shoulder down to her foot. It was a very gruesome scene; one Christina could bear no longer. As she got up, she noticed a faint sparkle in Amy's eyes. She stared into Amy's eyes, carelessly constructed magic blazed. Its power was great for an amateur.

_'How did she have time to do this, you aren't usually informed ahead of time when you are going to die. But either way, it still seems real enough to me.'_

Christina finally made her way to the stairs. But before she could go up, a dagger was plunged deep into her side. And for the first time ever, she screamed.

* * *

Maggur had just sent Jaylie to find the other two girls.

A guard walked up, "Milord, my commander asked to find you and ask did you want to actually talk to her sometime this year or can she go to bed without hesitation?"

Totally ignoring the guard, Maggur ordered, "Give me your blade then get back to work."

The guard handed over the sword, bowed, and left back up the stairs. He was muttering something incoherent under his breath. Maggur didn't mind, well, mind wasn't the word. If he reprimanded every one of those soldiers on that girl's command that did that, this castle would lose almost half of its soldiers. All of the soldiers under her command were crazy and rude.

Someone tapped him on his shoulder. It was Jaylie, "We're here…….sir."

Maggur smiled; at least someone wasn't affected by that other girl's poison. Jaylie had turned slightly away from Maggur, and then he saw his chance. He deftly raised his sword and put it to Jaylie's neck and said, "Your friends are coming shortly." The he quickly sliced her neck, taking her life and blood with it.

He advanced on Veronica, who had already unsheathed her sword. "You'll pay for that with your life!" she yelled.

No longer than it took finish that sentence than she had a huge gash across her chest. In the few seconds it took to register the pain, Maggur had already opened a wound down her back. Veronica was dead before she even hit the floor. There was one more person left, Kairen. Kairen just stood gaping at the scene before her.

Maggur slowly walked up to her, sword raised. "Two of your best friends are dead. What are you going to do now? You can stand there and die, or you can become my faithful servant and live a while longer."

Kairen just stared at him with a horrified, but defiant, glare in her eyes.

Maggur quickly ended that, for he knew someone had heard the racket. As he slid back into the shadow of the wall (this is one of the only places in the dungeon that actually has torches) he waited, he waited for the person unlucky enough to be the first to discover this scene. Much to his surprise, it was Christina.

She looked astounded at what she saw. She knelt in turn at each body.

Maggur moved out of the shadows slowly, careful not to make a single sound. He stopped right behind her and drew his dagger. As soon as she stood up, he plunged it deep into her left side.

She screamed, the first time he ever heard her do so. Christina soon went limp in his arms, he immediately dropped her to the ground.

Captain Rodger ran down the stairs. "You shouldn't kill her, our full plan has not yet been carried out. Once it is complete, you will have no need for her, then you can dispose of her."

Maggur sheathed the dagger in agreement. He placed his hands on Christina's back and started to chant in a low voice. A yellowish glow started to emanate from his palms. When he was done, he got up and turned to Rodger. "When she wakes up, she will remember nothing of the events of this eve. You know who to get and what to do, dismissed.

* * *

Alanna hurriedly stood up. "Raoul……"

He interrupted her almost immediately. "All the knights and soldiers are able to travel."

"Let's go."

In just about a half an hour, Alanna found her way back to the Entrance Hall. "Fulcrim, take your squad and saddle all of the horses in the barn where the prisoner's horses are kept. William's squad, come with me."

This time Alanna knew exactly where she was going. As soon as she got to the dungeons, she went straight to Raoul's cell. (Well sort of, because Raoul's cell is actually the first you would come to if you were really there.)

William's squad went down all the hallways, one key per two soldiers, and freed all of the Tortallans taken captive during the last five months.

Alanna led the way out. She only took five people each time, as did William, any more would become too conspicuous. Each time a group got mounted up and ready, Alanna or Fulcrim said, "There is a deserted town about ten miles south of here. Nobody has gone within 2 miles of it for years. Wait there until the soldiers and knights arrive. No matter what time it is, we will leave as soon as we are all there."

After this, Alanna and William each went back to get five more of their comrades. This ritual continued until there was only Alanna, William's squad, and five others left. Fulcrim's squad had left with the last group.

"That was far too easy." William announced to no one in particular. "So be on your lookout."

Alanna rode up beside him. "No one has declared war yet, so we're about as safe as anyone else."

It was almost noon before they got to the town.

* * *

It was dark in this passageway, no guards around. 'That's a good thing.' The person lurking in the shadows thought, 'I can't bring myself to look at another human being ever again, and certainly not as an equal. I can't believe I did that! I just left them for dead. I saw what was coming, but I was too stupid to warn them.'

The shadow-person heard a scream farther down the hall they'd just fled. The shadow started to run, because they feared they knew exactly what was happening.

When she got there, she saw Maggur with his hand emitting a strange glow over Christina's back. Captain Rodger was there too. As soon as Maggur was finished, the guards standing behind Rodger came forward and picked Christina up and hauled her up the stairs. Maggur waited a second, and then slipped back into what seemed like another passageway.

As soon as the shadow-person turned around, they walked right into Maggur.

Maggur, with a smirk on his face, said, "You're not getting away this time…..Kairen. That stunt you pulled was clever, but not nearly enough so. You will have to pay dearly for what you've done." Without waiting for anything that even resembled an answer, Maggur tackled Kairen, her head banging against the stonewall.

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A/N: Well, that's all for now. Sorry it took all extra long this time. If it's any consolation, I was done with this chapter a month ago, I just didn't have the chance to type it. Before that I didn't have time to write, until I got ISD. Since it was getting so close to SOL's, we were getting a whole crap-load of homework. And when I finally got some free time to type it, my comp decided to be a stupid whore. The next slot of free time was filled up by vacation, on which I would also….surprise surprise……not have the time or the comp. I had to use a few days at school to type it. So here it is finally. Hope you like it, it only took an hour of being bored in ISD to write. ) 


	8. The Warrior's Return

Warring Interlude Chapter 7: The Warrior's Return

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I was looking to see who reviewed my story, but I was sadly disappointed when I remembered that the review was for one of my other stories. So here it goes, hope you like it. I had to finish this in Australia. I personally don't care for the end of this chapter, so I might change it when I come up with a better one. You need to pay attention in this chapter because it keeps switching views and the view it switches to isn't necessarily at the same time in a different place.

Sorry to AnotherChance, as soon as I posted this chapter, I checked my mail. But that'sokay! Thanks for reviewing andI hope you like this chapter.

And since I haven't put it on here in awhile:

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**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Tortall or any of that stuff.

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It was the eve of the New Year in Tortall. Normally there would be festivals in every corner of the country, but not a single cheer could be heard anywhere in any part of the country. Whilst no one knew, save the King and the Queen, of the absence of their champion and the other knights, the people of Tortall still had that gut feeling that something wasn't right.

-------------------------------------------- Corus -------------------------------------------

Thayet was outside on the balcony of her room just dreaming of the night's festivities. (I know I said that everyone knew something was up, but they still have to have the ball for appearances' sake.) It was to be a grand party, but it still didn't make the facts any less true.

Just as Thayet was about to retreat from the balcony, something coming down the road to the palace caught her eye. _Holy Mithros…_ "Jonathan quickly, come here!"

He didn't even bother to glance away from his work, "Thayet, I'm busy. Can't it wait?"

Thayet went indoors and stood beside her husband. "No it cannot." She said in a stern voice. Almost immediately changing the tone of her voice she said, "Alanna, Raoul, and all of the knights are back!" Thayet started dancing around the study.

Jon finally sat his pen down and pushed the papers he was working on aside. "No they aren't. If by some miracle they were, Alanna would've contacted me once they arrived in Tortall."

"JONATHAN OF CONTE, GET YOUR LAZY ROYAL ASS UP AND GO DOWN AND WELCOME EVERYONE. NOW!"

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(The day after the knights were freed)

Maggur was walking down the dingy hallway at a fast pace while giving orders to one of the guard. "I expect there to be a sentry on duty outside their doors every second of the day. They are to come out for nothing, use all force necessary to accomplish this. I also want magical wards placed on their rooms in case your emotions or your stupidity takes the best of you. Under no circumstances are you to talk to them, they to you, or them to each other. And no healers! Understood? Dismissed."

Maggur continued at his fast pace until he made his way up from the dungeons and arrived at a certain door on the second floor of his castle. When he opened the door, there was a deathly pale girl sitting against the headboard of the bed who had a sorry excuse for a bandage clutched to her left side.

"I see you are awake. Good, because I will give you one warning and one warning only. Any further mishaps on your part will result in severe consequences. Until the New Year comes, I want to see nothing of you. You will stay in this room. You will talk to no one who happens to be in or anywhere near your room. If I see you anywhere but in this room, I will not hesitate to kill you like I did with your friends."

"If I was physically able to walk or otherwise get out of this room, I would've done so already." Hate seeped through Christina's every word. "I certainly hope you said that for the guard's benefit that's standing outside of this room, because it seems pretty obvious to me."

"Heed my warning, by the end of this week I expect you to be a loyal servant of the Scanran Crown."

"There's no such thing, Scanra is too divided to have a king."

"Oh it doesn't have a king yet, but beware, it will soon. I have only united two of the tribes that reside in Scanra so far, but if plans run smoothly, but the seventh New Year after this one, Scanra will be one. Once this is complete, Scanra will have its rightful glory by defeating the Tortallans in an all-out war. If the knights hadn't of escaped it would have only made my job easier, but it wasn't that big of a loss. You are my secret weapon; they know nothing of you or your power. We will crush them like little bugs."

"You lying son of a bitch! You said you meant to unite the nations peacefully so you could make a treaty with the King of Tortall."

"I will hear no more on this matter." And with that, Maggur swept out of the door and locked it.

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--------Tortall, Corus (New Year's)--------

King Jonathan and Queen Thayet were hurriedly making their way down to the soldier's mess where all the knights and soldiers that were held in Scanra were gathering because there wasn't nearly enough room in the infirmary.

"Isn't it lovely?" Thayet said absentmindedly. (She is not aware of the conditions of the fighters.) "I mean, everyone is back; and it's New Year's on top of that!"

When they arrived in the mess, they were appalled at the sight that greeted them. Men all around were wounded heavily and covered in masses of dried blood and dirt. Healers were frantically scurrying from person to person trying to at least partially heal their wounds; Alanna was among them.

"Thayet," Jon quickly said. "Please help as many healers and soldiers in any way you can." (If you don't remember, Thayet isn't afraid of getting her hands dirty. Also, she is neither in a fancy gown nor in a nightgown, just a plain dress.)

As Thayet left, Jon walked over to where he saw Raoul talking to one of his officers. "What in the hell happened her Raoul?"

Raoul turned to face him. "I know you didn't expect us to go without a fight, that would be absolutely preposterous! Besides, no one is dead or in danger of being so. Either who did this doesn't like killing people or they had specific orders. We killed a few of them, but we were so outnumbered and also surprised. The Commander seemed very peculiar."

"There is a war brewing Raoul." Jon stated simply. "Maggur has united two of the tribes in Scanra, and is on his way to uniting a third. Just uniting two is a near miracle. There is nothing that we can do about it, and soon Scanra will be one instead of nine. Until then they can't risk starting anything, but when the time comes, there will be an all-out war on our hands."

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A/N: Well that's it for this chapter. I finally finished typing it. I got back from Australia about two weeks ago and I haven't had much time because we've had other things to do. I know Scanra probably actually has more than nine tribes, but for my purposes, it has nine. Please review and tell me what you think. 


	9. Fun at the Dancing Dove

Chapter 8: "Fun" at The Dancing Dove

Thanks to the few people that reviewed my last chapter and I'm really glad that you liked it. I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter up because after where the first paragraph took me, I knew not where to go. And also my computer decided to be a slow piece of crap lately, sooooooooooooooooo………yeah. Since I forgot if Solom died in the Alanna series and I don't feel like going through the books to find out, he is alive for my purposes (which there are none of).DISCLAIMER: Tortall and all it's fictional inhabitants are Tamora Pierce's, not mine.

"Christinaaaaaaaaa, how long until we get to Corus?" Amy pleaded for about the twentieth time that day (Not counting how many times she had asked the previous day).

"I already told you earlier, it's not that hard to remember."

"But I forgot."

"Only you would, but is it really that east to forget something I told you only five minutes ago? When we get to the Smiskir Road, we follow it until we get to the Vassa road and cross it and the Vassa River. Once we're across we take the Great Road North south and travel on it until we get to Corus. All in all it will take about…about a month by my reckoning. You better not ask me again or I'll dump you in the Vassa." Christina replied, the last part with a sarcastic tone.

* * *

"What's wrong Jon?" Alanna inquired. "You seem…preoccupied. More so than usual."

It took a moment for him to gather his words. "I was talking to Myles this morning about the situation in Scanra. He sent some people up there awhile ago to find out what they could about the Commander you and Raoul keep talking about."

"And? It's all over now, or at least it should be."

"It's far from over Alanna, in fact, it's just getting started. Your Commander is actually the King's Champion for the united part of Scanra. And to top it off, it wasn't by choice."

"How can that even be possible? You can't just make someone be something they don't want to be, especially something like that."

"Well it is actually possible, but it's a very complex spell to perform to make sure they don't quit."

Alanna was so taken by surprise (That is wasn't Jon) that she jumped from the chair and unsheathed her sword. She just as quickly sat back down when she saw who it was. "Numair, when in the hell did you get here? I didn't even hear you come in."

"You were so wrapped in your conversation, I didn't want to disturb you. I came in about ten minutes ago, by the door I might add."

"You might as well stay." Jon stated simply. "We're going to need your help with this eventually."

"I was wondering when you'd notice, I mean with their mage and all…"

Jon suddenly interrupted Numair. "What do you mean 'with their mage and all'? They only have a few mildly powerful mages, none so strong to be able to sense him from here."

"What are you trying to imply Jonathan? Just because you can't sense it I can't? That I'm not strong enough or Scanra isn't very powerful or prepared? (As you can see, to me Numair can get a little short with you if you so much as hint that he's not powerful) Because you are the one that always says don't underestimate or assume anything about your enemy. Even when our enemy is so weak that we can win with only a squadron, you always say that no matter what anyone else seems to think about it. I would think that from all of the information that you get from Myles you would know that Maggur is far from unprepared, and he is much more prepared than you think. The power signature that was on the plants at the ball a few months ago is the same one I sensed coming closer to the palace." He paused. "Sorry Jon, I've just been very stressed with this mage lately."

"That is fine Numair, but it is still of extreme importance that we find out all we can about him."

* * *

(One month after Amy and Christina started their journey.)

The sun was low in the west and they had a few more miles to go. Amy had already fallen asleep in the saddle and their supplies were a week gone. About two hours later Christina was about to stop to set up camp somewhere in the trees on the side of the road when Corus' landscape finally came into view.

"Amy!" Christina yelled joyfully, disturbing many birds in the trees. "We're finally here, wake up!"

Amy sat up straight, letting go of the reins, and almost falling off of her weary horse. "W-what did you say?"

"I said we're here, we're in Corus!"

"About damn time." Amy mumbled.

"First stop," Christina declared. "The Dancing Dove."

"What is that? And what about the palace, that is what we came here for in the first place."

"All in good time, all in good time."

By the time Amy and Christina actually arrived at their destination, the moon was high in the sky.

"Here we are, the famed Dancing Dove. Well, not really, but it makes it sound better." Christina said off-handedly as they handed the reins to the stablehand at the door and entered the Inn.

If one walked up to the Dancing Dove and took a quick look, they would find it to be a quite respectable looking establishment. But one step inside would prove even the most positive person wrong. The second Amy and Christina stepped through the threshold, their ears were greeted with sounds of celebration and drunken happiness.

They were still frozen to the spot when a man that looked to be about sixty years old walked up to them. "What is you young 'ins doin' in 'ere? Ain't ya a wee young tah be comin' ter a pub?"

"C'mon Solom." Someone yelled from across the room. "It's only the King's birthday. Let them get a little summat and puts on meh tab."

Solom eventually resigned (after much persuasion) and gave them each a pint of ale and some chicken. They sat there and enjoyed themselves for awhile until the door to the Dove opened and admitted three people; two of which Christina knew only too well.

"Amy." Whispered Christina urgently, or rather yelled urgently because of the volume of the noise. "We need to leave now."

Amy didn't seem to have acknowledged what she said. "Cawm on Christina, yawr nawt sanging alowng."

Christina almost screamed in frustration, not that anyone would care. She grabbed the hood of Amy's cloak and dragged her outside, pushing past their new guests.

"Stop!" Yelled that voice fro the door of the Dove.

Christina and Amy (finally in a slightly sober state) just ignored the person and kept on their path to the stables.

When they arrived, the guy that had come in with Alanna and Raoul was there waiting for them. "We need to talk to you."

They turned around and saw themselves face-to-face with Raoul. "You can't run anywhere. If you could, we'd find you sooner or later."

While Amy was still staring at Raoul, Christina turned her head slightly and saw that Alanna was now standing beside the man that she had come here with.

"There is a magical ward on the stables." Alanna said calmly from behind her. "None of us can leave until I ask Numair to raise the barrier, and that won't be until you agree to answer some questions we have about a mage of Maggur Rathhausak's that has been giving us problems."

Christina turned around in time to see Alanna's companion slowly walking toward her a few steps. "Just come to the palace and talk to the king for us, but there's no way to get out of it. Border Patrol saw you both coming from Scanra."

It took a minute for Christina to dwell on her's and Amy's choice. Though she hated to admit defeat, she knew that she had lost this battle.

Before she had a chance to say anything, Amy started to talk. "Well it's not like we had a choice."

"A choice about what? Because no one was forcing you to come to Tortall."

Alanna put her hand on his arm. "Don't interrupt them George. I know you're a bit touchy about this, but please be polite. Sorry about that." She said turning her attention back to Christina and Amy. "My name is Alanna, this is my husband George Cooper and the big lump of meat behind you is Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak."

She looked at them expectantly; it took a minute for them to figure out what she was waiting for. Because of the fact that if she waited for Amy to say something their cover would be blown, Christina spoke up. "I'm …..Remara of Rathhausak and this is my best friend Rin. If it's the only way to get out of here, then we agree to go to the palace with you."

"Fine choice if I do say so myself." Raoul commented as he came between Christina and Amy and put his arms around their shoulders.

Alanna and George started to walk away. Over her shoulder, Alanna called to them. "Saddle up, Raoul will show you the road to take to get to the palace. We need to get there beforehand to notify the king of your visit."

"Lucky us." Amy and Christina said to themselves as they were led to their horses.

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A/N: I am so glad that I finally got this chapter typed and posted. Since school just started about three or four weeks ago here, everything's been kind of hectic. Thanks to AnotherChance for reviewing my last chapter and not biting my head off when I didn't post my chapter when I said I would. I hoped you liked this latest installment in my story, and I would be ecstatic if y'all would review so I could get your input on it. Until next time. 


	10. Meet the Pages

Chapter 9: Meet the Pages

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A/N: I was going to say something, but I forgot now because I'm typing this at school during lunch. So R&R I hope you like this latest installment.

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Browneyed beauty21092: I'm not sure what i'm going to do about the boys yet, but I'll think of something when I write the next chapter. I know it's confusing since I didn't mention anything about magic until now, but Amy is alive b'c of a spell that she had been practicing. I took the part out whereChristina said something to herself about it, but she did know. I promise it woun't be that confusing from now on.

AnotherChance: Thanks again for reviewing, I'm really glad you liked it.

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own Tortall or any of Tamora Pierce's creations.

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Except for the initial greetings, Amy and Christina kept silent the whole ride to the palace. Once they actually arrived Raoul introduced them to various personnel and nobles at the palace, among which were Stefan, Lord Wyldon, and Sir Myles.

About an hour later when they were finally on their way to the King's Study, they turned one of the many corners and Raoul plowed straight into George. And Because of Raoul's size (compared to George's), George fell backwards onto the stone floor.

As soon as he got up, he said. "Jon's very busy at the moment, he said that he'd be able to talk to Remara and Rin tomorrow. For now he said they are to eat with the pages and sleep in rooms on the guest wing. I almost forgot, Jon also said that if these two needed anything to ask you or Myles. Sorry I can't stay and chat, but I've got to be at Pirate's Swoop by the end of the week." With that, George swept past them and descended the stairs on Rin's right.

"Well, I guess there's no chance of changing Jon's mind." Raoul stated with a defeated look on his face. He spotted a servant walking down the corridor and pulled him aside. "Show these girls to the pages' mess, and after dinner get someone to show them to a room in the guest wing." Raoul then turned back towards Remara and Rin. "Follow Eric here to the mess, and try not to tell any of the pages what's happened to either of you. Not that I know, but the pages don't need to know either. I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

About 20 minutes and three flights of steps later, Remara and Rin were finally at the dining hall. 

Eric quickly glanced in the mess. "Lord Wyldon's not here yet, I'm not sure if he's even coming to dinner tonight. I can't stay, so you'll have to ask one of the other pages what to do." He all but ran down the hallway and out of sight.

"Well that was pleasant." Remara remarked nonchalantly.

"I know, but I wonder what or who in there scared him. Eric was rushing down the hallway like there was no tomorrow." Commented Rin as she gestured towards the mess.

"I don't really care to know," Remara responded while walking into the hall. "All I am is hungry."

* * *

A tall girl of about five feet walked over to and sat down beside an older boy with dark brown hair and green eyes. "What's wrong Neal? You've hardly said a word today. Besides, you're actually eating your vegetables, you never do! Something's wrong, I know it is." 

"Don't worry Kel, it's nothing." Neal told her, obviously not in a good mood by his tone.

"I'm not an idiot Neal, something's up. Never have I seen you this down." Kel said with a caring tone in her voice.

"It's just….." Neal started. "It's just that I've been having these horrible headaches on and off for a few days now and they're starting to affect my magic. My dad's been having them too, but they're not as bad for him. He said I shouldn't worry about it, but I can't concentrate on anything else!" Neal suddenly stopped talking as he stared when Remara and Rin came in the doors.

Owen, being his eternally "jolly" self, 'bounced' over to Kel and Neal's table. "Well that's just jolly Kel, it looks as if you're not the only girl page anymore."

* * *

'_They're staring at us, all of them.' _Rin announced to Remara telepathically (one of the many things they found they could do in their "free time" in Scanra). 

'_Just keep looking for Daniel, Andrew, or Norman. Don't worry about how anyone's looking at you. And while you're at it, look for an empty table we can sit at too.' _Remara replied as she walked up to the cook to get some food for the both of them.

As they sat down and started to eat, everyone in the mess got back to their food and conversations, except for three fourth-year (I think…) pages near the door. About halfway through the meal, the same three pages made their way to Remara and Rin's table.

The blond-haired boy at the front of the group spoke first. " We don't need anymore girls pretending to be knights in here, so you might as well leave. The Lump is too much as it is."

Rin and Remara just sat there and ignored them and kept on eating their meals.

Joren, as they had heard the other two say, reached out his hand and made Rin turn around. "Did you hear what I said bi….." He was, out of nowhere it seemed, suddenly (sucker ) punched in his face **extremely** hard. "What the hell?"

Remara had shot up so quick from her seat to punch him that the bench her and Rin were sitting on was turned over on the floor. "Don't ever so much as put your hand on me or her again unless you are willing to pay the consequences." Her voice was shaking and her hands were clenched. "If you do happen to, you'd better hope I don't accidentally kill you."

"Watch how you talk to your superiors wench, it might get you into trouble one day." One of Joren's friends supplied for him.

* * *

Kel and Neal were watching the whole scene unfold (as were the other pages) with amusement. Never had they seen someone stand up to Joren, Garvey and Vincent in such a fashion. Everyone was, to put it simply, amazed.

* * *

Remara tried (she really did) to not bash their faces in, but it just didn't happen. She was all over the three in a heartbeat. _'They'll learn to be wary of what they say, and I even tried to warn them…'

* * *

_

"Good thing the Stump isn't here." Neal said almost bursting with glee. "I haven't been this happy in awhile. Someone's finally, publicly, giving Joren and his cronies their just deserves." He paused for a moment. "Holy Mithros, that girl's making them look so stupid, they're never going to live this down."

"Neal!" Kel said in exasperation (I can't believe she's actually showing emotion, so un-yamani-ish). "Are you blind or are you just being especially stupid today? Just because she's winning doesn't mean she's any less hurt than they are, just look at her."

* * *

It was very true that Remara was hurt badly, but it was also just as true that she wasn't going to stop fighting until she showed these fools some manners. Rin had sat down to finish eating a few tables down so as not to be included in the fighting. 

Finally Joren, Garvey, and Vincent had Remara cornered and there was no way to get out. All three of them lunged at her at once. Remara dodged Vincent, managed to land a hit in Garvey's stomach, but not without receiving a blow from Joren.

"I can handle this bitch." Joren told his friends after the assault. "She's just about done in anyways."

Remara had to pinch herself to keep from dying of laughter. 'If I'm still standing after all three of them attacked me, how in the world does he think he even stands a chance against me alone?'

Before Joren even had a chance to turn back around, Remara ran up to him and tackled him so hard that everyone in the hall swore they heard the crack of at least one of his ribs breaking. By this time, Remara was so furious and full of rage that no matter how many times Amy asked her to stop, she didn't.

Joren was a bloody mess and had only gotten in a scant few hits since he'd been tackled, Vincent and Garvey were being held back by a few of the other pages.

The brawl would've continued until one of them was unconscious, but luckily Numair came racing in the hall with Raoul and Duke Baird in his wake.

Numair went over to Garvey and Vincent to try to calm them down while Raoul went immediately and put his arms around Remara and dragged her off of Joren.

With the little strength Joren had left, he pulled a dagger from his belt and slashed (not very hard being that he's weak) Remara diagonally across her face. Instead of putting her hands to her face to try to stop the flow of blood, she fought Raoul's hold on her even more. "Bastard!" She screamed at Joren.

Without any warning whatsoever, a red colored light exploded from Remara's palm and blasted Joren down the isle between the tables all the way to the other side of the room. Remara looked as amazed as everyone else in the hall, but not nearly so much as Numair or Duke Baird.

Raoul was still struggling to keep his grip on Remara when Lord Wyldon burst through the doors to the mess followed by a very confused looking Sir Myles.

"What …in…the…hell…happened in here?" Wyldon asked himself, because the shocked faces and the blood on four of the occupants of the room could tell the general story.

Once Wyldon no longer looked like he was going to have an apoplexy, he said in a commanding (and slightly irritated) voice. "Duke Baird, could you please take Joren out of here and to the infirmary. Garvey, Vincent, Remara, and Rin come with me NOW! The rest of you pages finish eating then go about your business as usual." As soon as he finished, he stomped out of the doors with the four in tow.

* * *

After both 'sides' of the story were heard, Wyldon started on Garvey and Vincent. "What in Mithros' holy name were you two thinking? I don't give a damn how tough you think you are or if it's a major dent in your pride, you're never EVER supposed to fight a lady let alone touch them without their consent. You pages shouldn't even be fighting. Your punishment will be that you have to muck out the stables for two bells each Sunday for the rest of this year. Dismissed." 

Wyldon waited until he was sure that Garvey and Vincent were well gone before he turned his chair to face Remara and Rin. "Never in all my years have I ever seen a lady act in such a manner as you did tonight. If my daughters had acted that way, you can be sure there would be severe punishments for them."

"What makes you think we were those kind of ladies in Scanra?" Remara pronounced slowly, due to her painful injuries (not all injuries have to hurt ya know…).

"What makes you think you can fight anyone that you please? Just because you're guests in this castle, it doesn't mean that you get any special treatment." Wyldon snapped. He turned to Rin. "I know you didn't have a part in this fight, but maybe you can teach your friend some manners."

"She does have reasons for acting like this." Rin replied solemnly. "It wasn't exactly a walk in the park for us up in Scanra, we had to look behind us every step of the way."

"I understand," Wyldon stated. "But Remara still needs to try to act a little better than was displayed at dinner."

Remara's wounds were starting to hurt so much that it was making her vision was getting blurry. "I'm…..still here…you know." She finally just blacked out. (took awhile didn't it?)

* * *

When she woke up, Remara was lying in a bed and had some bandages on her face. She tried to get out of the bed, but she had no strength left to speak of. She felt exactly as she had when Maggur had stabbed her. 

Remara looked around as best she could from her immobile position and saw that she was in a huge room full of beds. There were a scant few others in the room also. _'I guess this must be the dreaded infirmary.'_

It was dark outside, but since she had just woken up, Remara was nowhere near tired. About a half an hour later she tried to get up again, but all she managed to do was sit up against the metal headboard (-ish thing) of the bed. _'Damn, they got me better than I thought.'_ Remara leaned her head back against the sparsely decorated wall behind her bed. _'I must've been out for days; at least Joren learned his lesson. I never even remember learning a spell to do something like that, I wonder how much of my power it took.'_

She muttered the incantation to light a fire so she could light the candle on her nightstand, but it didn't work. What it did do was burn Remara's arm in the place where a bracelet was, one that she'd never seen before. _'This definitely isn't mine.'_

Remara examined the bracelet further; it looked far too expensive for anyone she knew to own it. It was gold or something similar to it and had five extremely small black opals inlaid in a very delicate looking pattern. The bracelet itself was far too small to simply slip off of her hand, but if she touched it without anything over her palm then it would shock her. After about her twentieth failure at getting the annoying piece of metal off of her, Remara just went to sleep.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading; I hope you liked it. I was going to continue, but even though this isn't a cliffhanger, I just felt like stopping it here. Page training is next…..mwahhahahahahahahahaha! Depending on what people think of this chapter, I might add a bit more that I've been thinking about. She was supposed to meet Neal and Kel in this chapter, but obviously she didn't. Once I get someone's feedback, I'll either add somemore or start writing the next chapter. 


	11. So the game begins

**Chapter 10: So the game begins…

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**

Thanks to the ONE person who reviewed my last chapter. If you like this or even hate it review it 'cause…well 'cause I want ya to………I don't know what else to say other than tell people who read the first chapter of a story and then go to something else, The climax of a story isn't in the first chapter unless it's a one-shot. And apparently, this isn't a one-shot. Nobody knows how many have read the first chapter of mine then stopped, so, thank you so much who had inclination to read far enough to where there is an actual plot. So hope y'all enjoy this chapter and sorry for my little rant.

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DISCLAIMER: This is probably gonna be the last one cuz I get so tired of writing them. I don't own anything in Tortall. Remember that, I own NOTHING!

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When Remara woke it was daylight outside. The first thing she noticed (besides the intense throbbing in her head) was an older looking man sitting in a chair beside her bed. He bore an uncanny resemblance to one of the pages she saw in the hall the night before.

"That was quite a show you put on in there." The man stated with a smile on his face. "Wyldon came to me afterwards for the strongest sleeping herb that I had. Naturally I couldn't give it to him, but what you all did must've been something for him to even ask me. Oh, sorry. Good Morning! How are you feeling?"

"Like hell." Remara drearily replied.

"Just as well," He said. "You look it too."

"What happened in Wyldon's office?" Remara inquired. "Because all I can remember is walking in and Wyldon's talk with Garvey and Vincent, the rest is a little fuzzy."

"It should be, after all, you did pass out. Wyldon and your friend did carry you up here."

Remara turned over and buried her face in her pillow.

"Don't worry, I don't think he'll hold it against you. Then again, he might not even have a chance to express his dislikes."

"Hakuna Matata." Remara replied as she sat up in the bed.

"What's that?"

"It means no worries." Remara said. Then quickly she added. "You still haven't told me who you are."

"I haven't? I thought you knew already."

"I've been in Scanra the whole time I've been in this world, however would I'd have known you?"

"If you want to start acting like that, you'd better start packing for your return trip to Scanra." He said, his tone suddenly turning deadly. "I don't tolerate it from my son and I won't tolerate it from anyone under my care or direction." With a slightly nicer tone he said. "Now, my name is Duke Baird of Queenscove and I am the chief healer at this castle. At noon a servant will come and escort you to the King's study where he will talk with you and your friend. You are to stay here until that time."

"And I suppose you're going to make me stay?" Remara said icily.

"No." Baird replied getting up to walk away. "But that bracelet you're wearing is. Numair put a spell on it to prevent you from leaving this room without consent, and the particular materials he used will prevent you from using your magic in any way."

"I will find a way out of here by noontide, I assure you."

"Very unlikely, you can't fool Numair's magic that easily. But don't think I won't be on my guard." Baird then walked back into his office, leaving Remara free to contemplate her escape.

"And so the game begins." She whispered.

* * *

The next morning at breakfast, all of the pages and squires were talking about the events of the previous night. Neither Joren nor that girl was here, but the girls' friend, Garvey, and Vincent were. None of the three would even mention what had transpired, and it seemed unlikely that they ever would. 

Kel, Neal, and Owen were sitting at the same table as last night, but this time Roald and a few others were with them.

"That was a jolly good fight." Owen stated while shoveling a spoonful of oatmeal in his mouth. "I wonder if My Lord will let her stay."

"Owen, have you even thought of the possibility that neither of them even wish to become knights?" Neal asked him as he pushed his plate aside.

"I figured that if they were with Shang they wouldn't be here, If they were thieves or rogues that they wouldn't even have a chance to come to the palace, and if you fight like that-that it's not for pleasure. So that left me to my conclusion that they want to be knights, or at least one of them does." Owen exclaimed with a proud look on his face that quickly turned to one of surprise when Rin walked up to their table.

"Would you mind if I sat here?" she asked.

Kel, noticing that none of the others were going to say anything for lack of concentration on the conversation, said. "Sure, we'd be glad to have you."

As Rin sat down, everyone snapped out of their reverie. She introduced herself and then barely had enough time to eat because of the multitude of questions.

After a few minutes' of silence, Neal spoke. "How do you and your friend have the gift? You said y'all were from a different world than this one."

Rin paused before she replied. Raoul had told them not to tell anyone about exactly what had happened, so she quickly made up a response to satisfy his question. "I have no clue; I think Remara knows, but she refuses to tell me. All she'll ever say is that the reason I have it is because I lost likely unknowingly drew power from her when we were practicing, and it never really went away." Rin stared at her plate for a while. "There was something I noticed while we were in Scanra that was really weird. I could only remember certain things about where we came from. I can remember some of my birthdays, but I don't remember exactly what happened or where we were before we actually came here."

Neal looked genuinely interested. "Wow. I'll have to ask Numair about this, though I doubt he'll know because things like this are almost unheard of." He was about to get up when he said. "Is it only with you, or is this thing happening with Remara too?"

Rin answered him uncertainly. "I wouldn't know. Ever since about a month after we got there, she hasn't shown much of any emotions except frustration and anger; even those are rare."

Further conversation on the current topic was momentarily halted when Owen returned to the table from giving his empty plate back to the cooks. "Say, it would be jolly fun if you came to the practice fields while we practiced."

"Why would a girl like her possibly even consider the thought of watching a few boys whack at each other with sticks?" Neal commented sarcastically.

Rin looked over at him and shook her head before returning her gaze to Owen. "I would love to watch, but wouldn't your training master mind?"

Neal looked genuinely offended for reasons that were beyond Rin. "The Stump? He's too busy inflicting torture on my weak soul to notice the goings-on of anything during our practice time."

Rin had to stifle a laugh. "I guess so then."

"Jolly!" Owen said as he clapped his hands in delight. "We're going to have a jolly fun time. Come on, we're going to be late!"

* * *

After Duke Baird had left, Remara just stared at the ceiling trying to think of a plan. She knew she'd eventually put one together, but it was proving very hard and her time was running out. Suddenly an idea came to her, but she had serious doubts of it working. Remara had heard of the mage Numair before, but her determination prevented her from dismissing her idea right then.

* * *

Baird was sitting at his desk staring at the mountains of paperwork lying there. There was no way he was going to get it all done at this rate. He had just started on a list of supplies the palace infirmary needed when he heard a shriek. Baird quickly jumped up (which consequently threw his chair backwards into the wall) and ran to the door. The only person in the infirmary was that Scanran girl that he had yet to find the name of, but she seemed to be sleeping right now. Instead of pursuing the matter further, he just went back to his papers.

* * *

Remara immediately covered her mouth. She'd been so caught up in the spell that when it actually worked, she'd let out a yell because she was so happy. Remara had practiced that particular spell before, but she wasn't as adept at it as Rin. Now all she needed to do was find a hooded cape or robe to cover herself in.

* * *

Even though there was still a stack of papers a mile high on his desk, Baird resigned himself to making rounds through the infirmary. There wasn't currently anyone in there except him, that girl, and… when had that other person come in? Baird would've pursued that matter further, but the guards had just arrived to escort the girl to the throne room. He, in particular, thought it was kind of harsh because of how he knew some of the nobles would act; but it had to be done. Baird walked out of his office to meet the guard. "Right on time as always; how's it going today Deming? Have you been having any luck lately with the ladies?"

"It's starting to be a good day so far, and no, I've had no luck of that kind lately. The only luck I seem to have is winning our monthly tournaments, Sir." Deming said as he looked around uncertainly. "So…ah…where's the Scanran or whoever we're her for?"

Baird pointed to the bed that the cloaked person was sitting next to. "Right over there. I'd be careful, she's a handful."

After the guard left with Remara in-between them, Baird approached the person that had been sitting at her bed. "You've been here awhile. If you don't mind me asking, who are you?"

The figure, clearly surprised, jumped at the sound of Baird's voice. "Sorry." It said in a deep voice. "I was just thinking; I didn't expect anyone to come over and talk to me."

"It is kind of weird." Admitted Baird. "I don't think anyone knew of the presence of that girl save for few and a select few others, so you might see how it seems kind of conspicuous." He paused. "Do I know you?"

"I wouldn't think so, I… I've not been here very often lately. I usually…stay close to my fief."

Baird finally registered the voice. "Douglas! I can't believe it, everyone thinks you'd died somewhere in the Immortals War! You, Geoffrey, and Sacherell! Wait until Jonathan and the others hear about this, nobody's heard from you three for years."

Douglas stood up from the chair. "Uh…sir? I really need to go somewhere, so I'll try to find you later so we can finish this…conversation."

"Of course, of course. Go wherever you need to go, don't let me make you late."

Douglas walked slowly to the door and stopped. He took a deep breath and stepped forward…and nothing happened. He was so overjoyed that he started running down the hall.

* * *

Salma had just finished taking care of Kel's room when a crash outside the room caught her attention. She ran to the door and saw a person in a black cloak sprawled on the floor. Salma hurried and helped the person up. "Are you all right sir? You had quite a …" When the person stood up to their full height, their hood fell off and Salma saw who it really was; not that she recognized them. "Sorry miss, it's just that you looked like a man with that cloak on." The girl looked quite young to Salma, and she also seemed to have recently been to the healers. The girl was a total and complete mess. 

"Thanks for your help; I was kind of in a hurry. Have you seen a girl with really light blonde hair pass down this hallway?" She wiped all of the dust off of herself. "My friend and I got separated and I was just wondering if you knew where she was."

"It's just a guess," Salma replied. "But you might want to try the practice fields. That's where the pages practice fighting, it's just past the stables."

"Go raibh maith agat. I'll be sure to look there."

"What's your name, just incase I find your friend; so I can tell her your looking for her." Suggested Salma as she retrieved her cleaning things from Kel's room and locked the door. "Or if only for the purpose to find you so we can talk in the future."

"Remara." The girl said slowly. "It's Remara, and thank you again for helping me."

Salma smiled. "It was no trouble at all. Besides, that was quite a nasty fall you had; are you sure that you're alright?"

"Positive." Remara assured her. "You needn't worry about me anyways, it's not like anyone else does."

* * *

_I can't believe I actually tricked that mage's spell, so much for him being all-powerful. So, where's these practice fields that lady was talking about? _Remara thought as she pulled her hood back up and walked towards what she thought was the door to the outside. _It shouldn't be too terribly hard to find.

* * *

_

Several dead ends and twenty minutes later, Remara finally found her way outside and to the stables. The lady was right, Remara could see the pages in a fenced in field not but a few hundred yards from where she stood at that moment. She started to walk towards the field when she noticed someone leaning against the gate observing the pages, it was Rin. _Finally, the gods decided to help me for once. Thank Mithros for whoever that person was._

Nobody noticed the newcomer to that afternoon's practice with the Shang, except for Eda Bell and Hakuin Seastone (of course). They were currently demonstrating a kick to the pages. "... and you have to make sure that your other foot is firmly planted to the ground." Hakuin then paused. "Why don't you show us Remara? From what Eda has said to me, you'd mastered this kick quite beautifully while she was in Scanra."

Remara was about to scream, would anyone leave her alone? "Sorry, but I'd really rather not at this particular moment, you've caught me at a very bad time."

"Well then a spar, I'm sure the pages would find it immensely helpful to their training. You can even use your precious sais when we use weapons."

"Fine," Remara took off her cloak and jumped the fence that surrounded the field. "If you insist."

* * *

A/N: w00t for me, I'm finally done with this chapter. First I had writer's block, then I still had writer's block, and by the time I didn't have writer's block anymore and I knew what I wanted to write, it was six pages long and also had special settings to fit MORE on one page. I will try harder to get the next chapter out faster. Thanks so much for reading this, I hope you liked it! 


	12. Talk About Coincidences, pt 1

**Chapter 11: Talk about Coincidences

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**

As Remara removed her cloak, there was a chorus of gasps from the pages.

"Well, it seems as if you're popular already." Hakuin said. "You never did waste time giving others an impression about yourself."

Eda Bell hopped off of the fence and walked over to stand beside Hakuin. "I'll spar with her." She had a smile on her face. "Let me show you how it's done Seastone. This girl knows every trick in the book and then some." Eda took off her practice robe to reveal many, what looked to be, tribe markings. Some of which were covered by her short-sleeved tunic. "All pages, behind the fence." She got into her fighting stance. "Ullmhaigh Remara, níl imeacht furasta ar tú."

"Nóiméad," Remara readjusted some of her clothing and weapons. "Ní níor gurbh go dtí troid sibhse."

"You have to be ready for anything, that's what war is all about."

"But we're not in war."

"You still need to be trained that way though. Now on guard!"

Remara was suddenly bombarded by attacks that she barely managed to dodge. As she always did when she fought Eda, Remara remained on the defensive for about a minute to figure out what style Eda was favoring that day. Though it happened rarely, she was sometimes able to figure out exactly what Eda might do. Unfortunately, today was not one of those days.

Remara was snapped out of her reverie as one of Eda's punches landed square in the middle of her stomach. "It's not always good being tall is it?" Eda continued with her attacks on Remara. "Where are you today, you're not concentrating."

"Just a feeling about something, nothing to worry about."

Eda paused for a moment to give Remara some time to rest. She closed her eyes and started to say something under her breath, most likely a form of meditation used by the Shang. But a meditating Wildcat doesn't help in any way when there is a fox on the loose.

Suddenly, the thing Eda least expected to happen-happened. Remara, who had just started to walk away, pivoted and perfectly executed the kick that Hakuin had just been trying to teach the pages. Eda was well-trained enough to keep herself from totally hitting the ground, but that didn't keep a look of utter shock from crossing her face.

Remara grinned. "I was so close that time too."

Before anything got too far, Hakuin stepped between the two and announced. "Good job Remara, and _that _is how the kick should look. Now, separate into pairs and try it yourself for awhile." He soon went to examine the pages' progress, correcting one's stance here and there.

Eda turned to face Remara. "You certainly made an interesting entrance." She laughed a bit. "And about that, how did you even manage to get away from Maggur? When I was there, it seemed like you had the hardest time trying to find any free time. He summoned you right and left whenever he knew where you were."

Remara tilted her head towards the ground some. "Actually, I'd rather not talk about that. But what I am going to say is that no way am I here on his business."

The two sat in silence for awhile watching Hakuin teach the pages until, suddenly, the palace guard's watch sounded the alarm for enemies. While not unusual for some parts of the country, it was quite out of the ordinary for the capital.

Being that this type of situation was unheard of (save for once or twice in the past thousand years), Hakuin ordered the pages to report to the Library for independent study until otherwise mentioned.

Eda stood up. "You know you have go with them Remara, you don't have a choice."

Remara seemed offended, but at the same time oddly indifferent. "As if you could make me."

She was promptly jerked Remara to her feet and shoved in the direction of the pages. "This isn't Scanra," Eda said. "You don't command anyone here; which means you have absolutely no authority. Which also means, that you can't simply do whatever you want!"

"Fine Fine, but stop trying to give me a lecture before your breeches get in a bunch."

* * *

As luck had it (or not, Remara didn't really see the difference when she thought about it), Eda chose to escort the pages to the Library. She walked at the back of the group to ensure that no one walked off. They'd almost arrived when a couple squads of the King's Own marched around the corner, and hurried right through the crowd of pages. 

"Keep moving, don't stop." Eda announced over the clamor the Own made.

Remara slowed her pace a bit, but not too much. When she was sure Eda wouldn't look over, Remara turned and started to follow the Own.

* * *

"Raoul!" Jon was trying hard not to scream at him. "I need you to take this seriously, because I've never been more serious in my life." 

Raoul might've seemed utterly baffled had he been able to control his laughter. "How do I know you're not just pulling my leg here John? I know I skip out on most of the royal functions that you and Thayet plan, but Corus under attack? It's really not that funny if you consider it payback."

Jon concentrated on the fire for a minute, finally, an image appeared. It showed about 500 Scanran soldiers standing a near perfect formation on the few unfarmed (and otherwise untouched) fields right on the edge of the palace grounds. "As you can most certainly see Raoul, I'm definitely NOT joking. Normally I might not be so uptight about such a thing, but they've really caught us at a bad time. Numair and Daine are both away in other parts of Tortall, all of our Rider Groups are currently on missions, the castle guard and watch aren't accustomed to the type of fighting that might occur, and the Third Company are the only men in the Own that aren't preoccupied and are at the palace right now. So save everyone a headache and get your men ready to ride out, but assemble them all on the walls for now. And you shouldn't have a problem going through the castle, everyone's been notified of the situation and should be in their quarters if not of any help."

"I guess you pretty much covered everything. By the way, what're you going to do?"

"I'm going to try and contact Numair and possibly Alanna to see if they can get here as soon as possible."

* * *

"Yeah, and remember when Dom tricked Flyndan into putting those things in Raoul's tent, I still don't think he's let that one go!" All then men started laughing, even though they had all probably heard that story many times since the incident.

The men had been in the mess hall for the last three hours talking and trading stories while drinking a bit of ale (a bit to them generally meant a lot to someone else). Raoul suddenly burst in the door, immediately giving orders. "Everyone, arm up! I want you all on the palace walls in twenty minutes with your horses in a courtyard ready to ride." He was out the door before he could notice a couple of his younger men failing to miss the tables on their way out.

* * *

It was quite a miracle that none of The Own had either gotten lost in the jumble of pages or even remotely noticed their new recruit.

Remara walked quickly down the hallway as quietly as she could, though you wouldn't be able to hear her anyways. She followed them to the stables, where she hurried to hide in an occupied stall. The first thing Remara had to check was that the horse was on the opposite side of the stall than the door, else wise the other men of The Own might see what was going to happen. She waited, and after Mithros only knows how long, some poor soul finally opened the door without so much as opening his eyes.

It wasn't that hard for Remara to subdue him, because luckily it seemed that he'd been one of the ones drinking more heavily than the others (and possibly the fact that he wasn't too terribly coordinated in the first place).

After putting on the soldier's uniform, Remara hastily did a once over of herself. She wrapped the hilt of her dagger in a thin cloth so no one would think suspiciously, then proceeded to saddle the horse and get some important information…..

* * *

"Pages." Eda said, trying to capture the attention of the pages. When they continued without anyone even bothering to stop talking, Eda called a bit louder. "PAGES!" They instantly got quiet. "No one is to leave the Library. While you're in here, you'll be working on something one of your teachers has given you." She looked around at everyone. "Where is Remara…damnit!" Eda raced out leaving a thoroughly confused looking group in her trail.

* * *

Remara wasn't really sure what she expected all the fuss to be about, but what she saw quite shocked her. _'What the hell are they doing here; I'm pretty sure Maggur had something for them to do at his palace.'_

She was going to move to different spot on the wall when a firm hand on her stopped her. "Regardless of how much you've had to drink, that's no excuse to purposefully move out of formation for no reason."

"On the contrary sir, I've orders that say the Own's supposed to spread out farther along the walls. And I was told to be over there." Remara pointed to a part of the wall near the gate where there'd be a good view of what happened down below. "The Commander said that he'd told you already."

"We'll see…"

* * *

"Do you think this'll actually work Zatara? I know in theory it should, but this is the royal palace for Mithros' sake, they'll be able to see right through it!" 

Zatara shook his head fiercely while motioning for everyone to get into position. "It will work; it just needs a bit of time. Besides, you know yourself that the Commander approved this plan long ago in case it was ever needed."

"But we weren't planning on ever attacking the palace itself when we made this plan! 'Tis folly to even think of doing something like this."

"You're not going to be saying that when the Commander's back. Plus, I thought being under her type of command taught you to think differently."

"It has, but I still have a feeling about this…"

"Whatever you say…KURIM'S AND MY SQUADS, MOVE OUT!"

* * *

Remara was looking at the movements of the Scanrans; something about what they were doing seemed familiar, but she couldn't place it. She stood there for at least twenty minutes when it finally hit her. Remara had thought this plan a good idea a long time ago, but it was foolish to even actually try it against someone with the kind of power Tortall had, albeit the fact that they were a single nation and didn't launch conquests just to show their power. _'Sometimes,'_ she thought. _'I wish they didn't catch on so quick to their training. It would be sad if I wasn't so proud about how far they've come.' _

She quickly made her way from the wall ignoring the shouts behind her. If she didn't get to the Scanrans before the castle guard or the Own did, then they'd be finished.

* * *

A/N: I know it's been awhile, but oh well. Hope the writing on my other stories will go really quick so I can hurry and get back to this story. 


	13. Talk about Coincidences, pt 2

**Chapter 13: Talk about Coincidences, pt. 2**

At worst, Remara thought that they'd assume she was just scared; so why were they so concerned with it that they'd follow her? She kept on until she reached a courtyard. With all of the twists and turns in the castle, she'd eventually lost the soldier. Remara stopped when she almost ran into someone. When she looked at him, she was greeted by an all too familiar face (not a bad one though). "What are you doi…" Remara was knocked down by someone that she hadn't notice come up behind her.

When she rolled over, her attacker put his foot on her chest and his sword to her throat. "Stay on the ground and don't move if you value your life." He used his free foot to kick the sword from Remara's hand (she had one too….just so your not confused). "As long as you're not any trouble, we might consider keeping you alive for the time being…"

"ZATARA!" He was visibly shaken by Remara's outburst. "What in the hell is your problem? Maggur sent me here; you shouldn't have come."

While Zatara seemed to think about what to do next, one of the Scanran soldiers ran up. "We need to get out of here. Apparently the King himself thinks the soldiers outside are only a diversion, so he's ordered everyone to search the castle for intruders."

Zatara's demeanor hardened. "Well, I guess we'll just have to leave a little surprise for the King." He pressed his sword tighter to Remara's throat; she started bleeding. "I definitely won't be able to take you with us. You're a simple guardsman. You're not worth the trouble anyways." He pulled out his dagger to properly slit her throat. "I mean, who would care about what happens to you?"

Remara started to fervently mutter something under her breath as Zatara brought down his dagger, which you would think would be effortless for him. His forehead creased with the effort of trying to move his hand. "What the hell did you do?" This angered him more. For lack of being able to do anything else, he got up, pulling Remara with him. "I guess you're coming with us after all."

"In the King's name, let go of that man and put down your weapon!" A squad of the King's Guard surrounded them. "Kill him, and you life is forfeit. Come with us silently, and the King might grant you mercy."

"Do you really think I would simply give up that easily?" Zatara shoved Remara down and rushed the guard, who brought his sword up just in time to protect himself from Zatara's blow.

As Remara got up, one of the other Scanrans drew their sword on her. _I swear, every last one of my men must be blind. _"You don't want to do this Kurim, and I should hope you know why. Unlike Zatara…"

Kurim had a very similar reaction to what Remara said. "What? It's impossible…how could you even get the uniform of the palace guard. Why would the king even let you wander around the castle unwatched?" He continued to come closer.

"Because, you amadán, he doesn't know." Remara darted across the courtyard to where her sword was and picked it up. "So, do you believe me or not?"

Kurim turned his head to watch Zatara and his other comrades fighting. "I do, I guess. But we can't really get them to stop now…what do we do?"

"This." Remara ran and tackled Zatara right as he was about to swing at the guard. They wrestled on the ground for a while, neither really winning nor losing. Until, Zatara used his brute strength to throw Remara off of him.

She hit the wall, and before she could get up, Zatara took her by the collar and pulled her up. "That was a very stupid move, and now you're going to pay for it." He drew his hand back and punched her right in the middle of her face. Remara would've fallen to the ground, but Zatara was still holding her up.

He was preparing to hit her again, but stopped when someone in a deep voice called out. "You're surrounded, don't try anything stupid. We've archers in the towers and we have a company of the King's Own surrounding this courtyard." Zatara dropped his head a little, but kept his arm in the air. Remara almost felt sorry for him, but then again, he was the dumb one that didn't even recognize his commander.

Yet again, Zatara let Remara fall to the ground and stepped away. As soon as he did, a few of the King's Own came up and tied his wrists behind his back. Even if just to say that he wasn't actually surrendering without a fight, Zatara kicked out with his foot and struck Remara in the face.

She put her hands to her face, and they came away with blood. _That __tuilí__ will be lucky if I even consider breaking him out now…true suspicion only goes but so far._ After she finally got up, one of the men of the Own approached her. "Raoul told me to escort you to the Infirmary, you know, in case something happens."

"Good god, I'm not a freaking child. I can walk myself, thank you."

Raoul came to stand beside the Own soldier. "Unfortunately, that is not an option. So he IS going with you and you WILL NOT leave until Duke Baird himself issues you a clean bill of health. Am I clear?"

Remara was fuming. "FINE! I don't even see why it's so important anyways."

"One person can get caught, two people can escape. And by the way, don't even think of losing my man on the way; if you do, you'll have to answer to me."

"For Mithros' sake, it's not that important…" Remara grumbled as she was led away.

* * *

"Jon! I'm trying to tell you there's no possible way that they haven't planned something else. I mean, really, they're just standing out there. They haven't sent a messenger since they've gotten here, so they're definitely waiting for something to happen." Alanna was pacing angrily around the room. 

Jon looked to be getting really tired of this conversation. "I've told you ten times already, they're not going to do anything as long as they're standing there like that. How would they even get into the castle? I mean, they're just Scanrans for Mithros' sake."

"That doesn't mean a damn thing, and you know it! They could show up with I don't know how many men in no time! Or don't you remember what happened at Midwinter?"

Raoul stormed into the room with an angry look on his face. "Some of the Scanrans got in somehow. We had to send one of the soldiers to the Infirmary, but we got them. I think some of them might even be the more high ranking officers."

"Was the soldier alone before you got there Raoul?" Jon asked. Raoul nodded. "Would you bring the soldier here for me?" There was another nod, and then Raoul left.

"Why do you want to talk to the soldier Jon? It's not like one of our soldiers will be able to tell us how the Scanrans."

"But that might not be true; how could one soldier find all the Scanran intruders so fast? He was the only one there, and he was supposed to be stationed on the walls."

"But there's no guarantee…"

"But there's also no other way."

* * *

Duke Baird looked up from what he was doing to watch two soldiers walk in. One was very…settled looking; the other, who was not in the Own as the first was, looked like they were about to fall out. He ran over to them. "What in the bloody hell happened?" He led them to a bed. 

"It was the Scanrans sir." Said the Own soldier. "He was the only casualty, because we got there soon enough and happened to greatly outnumber the intruders.

Duke Baird made Remara stand up to the side of the end of the bed while he checked her injuries. "Considering you were the only one, you got out pretty lucky. You have a couple broken ribs, a fractured shoulder, your nose is just bleeding, and you have that cut on your neck. The cut isn't too terribly deep, but you might still have minor problems breathing for a little while after it's healed. Raise your head so I can see the wound better."

As Remara did, Baird put his palm flat over the wound. It took about ten minutes to heal, after which you cold only see a scratch. "That should do it, but you might be a little tired…" His voice trailed off as he jumped to catch Remara before she hit the floor in a dead faint. The own soldier gave him some help laying Remara down on the bed.

A few minutes later, Raoul entered the Infirmary and walked over to where he saw Duke Baird. "Hey, Jon wants to talk to the soldier I sent here earlier." He took the moment to look at the bed that he had unknowingly walked to. "Good lord, what happened? I didn't think it was that bad…"

"It wasn't, but unknown factors plus the usual grogginess from the healing caused the soldier to faint." Baird turned to face Raoul. "Tell Jon, that until I deem it alright for this soldier to leave, he will never get the chance to see the soldier anywhere other than in here. Besides, he's not waking up anytime in the next few minutes, so what's the point of waiting?"

Raoul was walking away when he suddenly stopped. "Doesn't he look familiar to you?"

"What? Just forget about it, Jon's not going to talk to him today, no matter who he looks like."

Raoul turned around. "No no…that's not the point. Look at him."

"I'll admit he does seem familiar, but who knows who he is…"

* * *

A/N: Sorry for you extreme Jon or Alanna fans. I know some things they don't notice should be obvious, but I have to move the story along somehow. Please review! 


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